


The Darn Book

by bymak



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22156219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bymak/pseuds/bymak
Summary: Jack comes up with a book that inspires him to look at things differently.Originally posted at FF dot net
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	The Darn Book

**THE DARN BOOK.**

Earlier today, we found ourselves in a bookstore. I don't remember which one. To be honest, after the first five passed by, I couldn't care less the name of the store as long as we could find that darn book and finally move on to our trip to the cabin.

Yes, leave it to Daniel to convince Sam to bring the book 'she wanted, but never had time, to read.' And of course, if she never had time to read it, it only could mean she also never had time to buy it.

So, let me get you all up to speed, the day, so far, went by like this: At 0500-ish, I got to Cheyenne to pick up T. He, as the former Jaffa prime minister he was, quickly jumped on the front seat after carefully leaving his duffel bag on the back seat.

It took us some time to get out of there, because, you know, you can't be the base 2IC and not being bothered if you casually show up to pick up someone on the first day of your leave. Nope, they have to drag you around first for some questioning. But I digress.

Teal'c quietly enjoyed the drive to Sam's home, not that him quietly enjoying anything is some kind of novelty. Nope, our big guy sure has the ice treatment ingrained in every cell of his body.

So, back to Sam. We got to her home, and like the good soldier she is, we found her pacing outside her locked house while checking her watch because, with the change in my schedule, we were currently an hour and a half late. Her car, for once, was parked inside the garage, her duffel was sitting right next to her door. That much I got to see before I almost ran over her. Yeah, yeah, I was distracted by the way she lowered herself to pick her duffel bag, and how she jogged to my truck.

It was a profound "O'Neill," and a knowing glance what managed to prevent me from crash against her mailbox. I guess she didn't notice it because she was her lovely self, you know, big smile, sparkling blue eyes and that sweet voice of hers.

"Good Morning, Sir! Teal'c!" she grinned as she threw her duffel in and pushed hers and Teal'c's further in before she slid in. Yes, I followed her moves using the rear-view mirror. While I wanted to roll my eyes at her morningness, it's that even a word?

Ack! I'm not a morning person, never was, never will be. But years and years of being a night owl in a world of, whatever the freaking morning birds are called, somehow moved my times to make me sleep late and wake up at dawn, and, somehow, be able to survive through the day without killing someone.

Samantha Carter, on the other side, is one of those pesky morning people. She wakes up bright in the morning, and she is bubbly, energetic, and is always smiling, and gosh, sometimes I want to slap her on the back of her head to knock down a few notches her morning energy. Sometimes, I want to kiss her senseless, you know, if I get some energy exchange from there, then I wouldn't mind morning people so much. And yes, the second thought happens more often, I have to smirk to myself.

"There's something wrong, sir?" she asked, big blue eyes looking at me through the rearview. I know, totally caught! I shook my head and added a smooth: "Nope, nothing besides you calling me 'Sir,' Carter. We are on vacation for crying out loud!" It came out a bit too angry. She flinched, I winced, then looked at her as she smiled sheepishly at me. The things that look do to me. Anyhow, I shrugged and added a: "I guess you can try to call me Jack?"

"Sure, sir Jack," she answered me with a huge smile, I groaned. I hope she thought it was because of the 'sir' slip, but it was because of all those pesky feelings that came over me when I heard my name on her voice. Never in my life, I thought a simple 'Jack' could sound so damn arousing.

Anyhow, then seconds passed as a somewhat uncomfortable silence took over the car. T looked away; the coward was hiding his thoughts on the view. Sam tapped her fingers on her jeans, and I did the same on the wheel. Then, completely out of the blue, she groaned, and before I could ask what had caused such an intriguing sound out of her, we arrived at Daniel's.

After waiting downstairs for several minutes, I lost the remnants of my patience. That Sam was locking gazes with me and avoiding looking at me in weird intervals helped on that. I growl. "I have his key," Sam said, and I tried not to feel an urge of jealousy, but then again, we all have his key. For some reason, T smirked at me, and then we went inside Daniel's flat, and of course, we found out that our civilian friend got caught up on reading late into the night, and we found him sleeping soundly over a book on his table.

Sam tried to wake him up gently, but a look, and we all knew it wouldn't work. It didn't. While she kept trying, I went to make some coffee for all of us. Trust me, we all know quite well that if one of us has enough reserves of coffee of fantastic quality, that is Daniel.

Now, since we already had to wait for him to wake up, I thought we'd all should get some of his excellent coffee to keep us going until our next stop. Chances where that next stop meant getting some over valuated coffee that somehow always tastes wrong from one of those coffee chains everybody else seems to love so much.

"He's not waking up," Sam said to my back and sighed. Somehow, I noticed there was something different in her, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"I'll try," I said, turning around to look at her. She beamed at me, and I frowned, she looked bright and awake like every morning; still, something was off. "Are you okay?" I asked, and she nodded, never losing that smile of hers. "Sure? You don't look like your usual morning self," I pointed, and she shrugged carelessly.

"I'll be better after that coffee," she grinned, pointing to the coffee machine that was starting to spit our favorite concoction. After eyeing her for a bit, I took a cup of water and left to wake Daniel. Seeing that Sam had moved the book away from under him, I grinned mischievously and poured the water all over my friend.

And really, it was just another example of how life had changed so much for Daniel. Once upon a time, I poured a glass of water over him to wake him before our mission, he glared at me as he worried about his book. Young Daniel even scolded me for scaring the bejesus out of him. Now, this Daniel, he rolled to the floor and took cover under his table. Then he looked up at me and rolled his eyes before giving me a coarse and disdainful: "Yeah, good morning to you too, Jack."

Besides all her lovely assets, good timing is one of her better-liked traits. She always seemed to get things working at the right time. So, I wasn't surprised when Sam came out with two mugs of coffee on each hand.

You'll see, the smell of coffee always works to appease both of our scientists, so when Sam came out, Daniel sniffed the air, and he tried to stand up quickly, hitting his head with the table before coming out of his 'hiding' spot. We all tried not to chuckle, we did! I swear! Well, yes, I know, trying, and doing it are two different things.

I guess that's when he started to plot what brought us to this moment. Believe it or not, Danny-boy can be deceiving if he wants to, and nothing says 'plot-against-me' more loudly than 'I-woke-you-up-by-pouring-water-all-over-you.' I think I would want any other form of revenge by now.

It was already 0930, by the time Daniel finished his bag, which of course he didn't pack, took his shower, got dressed, and we were finally down to the last part of traveling with Danny when at home - that something called book choosing that can also take a good while.

It was in the middle of his book-choosing when he did it. He convinced Sam she needed to take a book with her. But not only a book, but THE book, Teal'c and I shared a look before I flinched.

"You know, one of those you always wanted to read, but you never got time to," he said with that stupid boyish smile, and hook, line, and sinker, she fell for it. Because, who wants to go fishing without THE book? I groaned, but a look of those sparkling and heavenly blue eyes pleading to stop at a book shop was all it took for me to agree.

But, hey, at least, we finally left.

A few more minutes after I agreed to stop at the bookshop, Daniel also decided he wanted a new book instead of those old things that he was reading.

"They don't go well with fishing," he announced, and I rolled my eyes at him because it's fishing. The only thing it goes well with its tons of anti-mosquito gel, beer, and friends.

Now, Teal'c, and I used the time we knew we had at Daniel's home to arrange all the bags in the back of the truck so that the nerds could fit comfortably in the back seat. And once, we had finally hit the road towards the nearest mall.

So, we stopped, went in, and my two nerds moved along, trying to find the book with no success. Then, they decided to get someone's attention for help, and after a while, of not managing it, I went to the counter and asked if someone could help my friends.

I pointed the girl towards Sam and Daniel, and she walked to them. I saw her frown, and then, to my utter dismay, I saw the girl shaking her head no. By then, Daniel made massive movements with his hand; the girl said something more. Sam bit her lip, those luscious and distracting lips, and there was more talking, some walking, and then they came back to me empty-handed once more.

"No luck?" I asked. They denied with their heads looking quite disappointed. "Want to try on the next one?" I stupidly asked, and they eagerly nodded. So, we walked to the next one. Somewhere in the middle of those, someone mentioned they were sold out, but 'you might wanna check the one just a block away.' I cringed at those words.

Anyhow, store after store, the same process went by, all over again, until there were no bookstores in the mall that we hadn't checked, Sam looked disappointed and was about to settle with any other book when Daniel added: "We can always try that bookstore a block away, the one the cashier mentioned?" Daniel said because he knew he was the one that set Sam on the goose chase to get the book, and now he was feeling a little remorseful.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes got bright with hope, and I looked at her. Damn my melted brain! With not much of a thought, I agreed, and we walked into that store.

A freaking three floors bookstore. What the actual hell? I like reading. It's a hobby I picked up as a kid, and never let it go. However, I go to a bookstore, I pick books by reading the back, maybe even quickly scanning some pages and at the end, I grab the first one I like.

I sure as hell don't need three floors of options! Two shelves are more than enough, thank you very much. I can lose my patience in those at the mall where they have way too many options and no so helpful staff. So, I left them be and started walking around anything, not to see them struggling.

I was walking around, not touching anything as she requested with a knowing smile when I caught a book. Or rather, when a book captured me, it was greenish, and it had a leaf in the middle of the cover. 'Neil Gaiman, Fragile Things,' it read. Without thinking, I skimmed through it and stopped.

Honestly, I'd never heard of the guy before; I would remember someone with such last name easily. And really, as I've said, I read what I like. I don't get myself obsessed with the same authors over and over again. Anyway, I got to this page, and I couldn't avoid buying it. I walked to the cashier, paid for it, and then set myself into finding my Sam. Argh, my teammates!

I found them, looking through one of the shelves, moving their heads to read the names straight. It was a funny picture, so I just stood at the side watching them, not that I knew the name of the book she wanted. Then, one of the attendants came close to them, and they straightened, the look of the girl was disheartened.

"Sorry, ma'am," the girl grimaced. "It seems we just sold our last copy." Sam looked sad for a second. However, she recovered quickly.

"No worries, I'll find something else. Thanks," Sam smiled.

As she said then, Sam quickly scanned the books much as I'd do and picked one she thought it would work. Finally, off we went!

It was early the following morning when we did the last driver change, and I was back behind the wheel. It made sense, being the only one who knows how to get to the cabin. This time around, Sam was by my side, and in the back seat, Teal'c was kelno'reeming while Daniel was sleeping soundly using the whole back seat and Tealc's lap as a bed.

The coffee we bought at the last stop was already cold and undrinkable, a soft tune was sounding as a background, and Sam smiled. It was a smile I've never seen before, and I always thought I'd seen them all.

"What?" I asked, glancing to the side.

"This is nice," she whispered.

"You mean driving around with undrinkable cold coffee with a sleeping nerd snoring over a meditating alien?" I questioned. She snorted, and I could not help but smile at such a lovely sound. Dear God! I'm in too deep.

"If you put it like that," she trailed off, grinning. "Nah, I mean it, Jack. It is nice."

"I have to agree," I said, and out of the blue, I gave her thigh a light squeeze.

She shivered.

Maybe I imagined things, or perhaps that book I bought messed out with my head. I was seeing things I've never seen in her before as if somehow, she was allowing me to see a whole other her. I shook myself out of it. Could there be another side of her when she is the most transparent of us?

For some reason, I was grateful my SUV was an automatic one and not one of the manuals I like most because my hand never left her thigh, and she didn't complain about it either.

In the last two hours of our trip, we held some silly conversations where I learned more things about her than I've never thought I would. Things like her fixation with blue jello, or why she decided on astrophysics instead of playing the cello. I never knew she wanted to play the cello! I told her how kids bullied me when I was at school, and how my first CO said I was too useless to be an officer.

It was somewhere between those conversations that had oddly drifted from one touchy subject to the next mixed out with Sam being lulled in and out of sleep by the relaxing mood of the car when we finally got to the cabin.

Before waking my friends, I walked to the house, started the heater, and checked the fridge status. No, it wasn't empty, I'd called the neighbor to let him know I was coming and asked him to buy me some essentials, sending him some money to do so. Then, as I brought my things inside, I saw the darn book. I picked it up and went to put it on my bookshelf. That was when she came in.

"You didn't wake me," she said, rubbing her eyes with a hand. Her hair was messy due to hours of playing with her hair out of boredom. She looked adorable, and I wanted to kiss her so badly. "Should I wake up the guys, or should I claim a room first?" she asked.

I blushed like a darn schoolboy because who can ask that kind of question? Duh! Anyone, but my mind answered with images of her on my bed and asking me to join her there.

"Jack?" she called, and I shook my head to bring my brain back to reality. She smiled at me. Her eyes shone while she took a look at me, or actually at the book in my hands. "You have it," she added in awe.

"Have what?" I frowned in confusion.

"The book I was looking for: Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things," she said, tilting her head while locking her eyes into mine. But the moment, whatever that moment was, was broken by the sound of the engine of my truck stopping. Followed by two doors being closed, and we both stood to wait for them to join us inside.

"Room? Bed?" Daniel said sleepily, and if he weren't so darn sleepy, I would have glared at him. Well, glared some more.

"I'll escort him to the same room you offered me last time, O'Neill" Teal'c voice boomed on the empty room, and I nodded. We exchanged quick goodnights. When I turned around, I couldn't find Sam, even if her bag was on the entrance floor, right next to mine.

It was the light on the back porch combined with the sounds of the hammock rocking what got me moving there in no time. Perched on the hammock, Sam looks lovely, as usual. She seems carefree, peaceful, and she is reading my book, which appears was the darn book.

"I noticed you bought a book on our last stop, is this one?" She wonders, and I nod. "Why did you buy it?" She asks curiously, raising her eyes to meet mine. I shrug, and she smiles at me, and I think I notice a light pink on her cheeks. "I tell you why I wanted to read it if you tell me why you bought it?" She offers one of those mysterious smiles I'm starting to know.

"Okay," I agree quickly, and that led me to wince when I notice what I just did. Sam smiles knowingly, patting the hard surface of the hammock. I'm about to sit when she looks at me straight in the eyes.

"Just let me set something straight first, are you at SGC chain?" She asks seriously. I have no idea where that question comes from or how it relates to the darn book.

"Yup, until I go to DC and take my command. Why?" I answer.

"Promise you won't laugh at me?" She winces.

"I won't laugh at you," I say, raising my right hand.

"I was searching online when I came up to this image. It hit a nerve because, even though it was someone writing about watching a woman, somehow when I read it, I couldn't stop picturing you," she says, blushing, and that's a sight I wouldn't mind seeing often.

I also notice the black spots under her eyes. It dawns to me that she must be incredibly tired. She has slept in and out during our trip, but it wasn't more than for ten minutes each time, not that I've slept much more. However, unlike her, I'm not a morning person.

"How do you manage to be so awake? Most of the morning people I know are dying at this time of the night?" I wonder, and she laughed wholeheartedly.

"Truth is, I'm not a morning person. I never was, never will be. My guess is the years of training ingrained into my soul made me able to be awake in the mornings without killing someone until I wake up for real. But really, I can't do proper math until half-past midday. That's why I often you'd found me asleep at the lab. To make the advances I supposedly did during the mornings, I usually just kept myself there till I finished," she grinned sheepishly. "Please don't tell anyone."

"Huh. You are always so bubbly and happy when we wake up on missions. Or when we visit you early in your lab. Or in…" Sam stops me by pressing one slender finger on top of my lips. Oh! The things I could do with that finger.

"I pretend to be a morning person." She blushes, and I have to look at her.

"What?" I blink confusedly.

"Well, I," she starts, takes a deep breath, and I hold my breath for some unknown reason. "I do it because of you," she whispers. What the hell does it mean?

"Huh?"

"No offense, Jack, but you are sixteen years my senior, and if you can go around moving, thinking on your feet and not look tired when everybody knows you aren't a morning person, then, why shouldn't I be able to do the same?" She exhales.

"So, you pretend to be a morning person because I'm a grumpy person who works in the morning?" I ask, utterly confused.

"Yes, and now, you are stalling so not to answer my question," she points out, eyebrow raised. I smile sheepishly. Yup, she caught me.

"Well," I sigh, there's no way I can explain it without looking like a fool. "The book called to me," I say.

I can see the confused frown and the question about to be asked before I stop her, I grab the book from her hands.

"I skimmed through the pages and got to this one," I say, looking for the page number I memorized earlier. And then, I read it out loud.

"... She seems so cool, so focused, so quiet, yet her eyes remain fixed upon the horizon. You think you know all there is to know about her immediately upon meeting her, but everything you know is wrong. Passion flows through her like a river of blood..." I read, looking at her.

She looks at me, and I have to swallow to be able to continue, because the kind of blue that I see right now, looks too much like the kind of blue I saw when she was trapped behind a wall and caged on a room. I have to do this, I guess it is now or never, and I can't deal with the consequences of never. "I couldn't stop thinking about you when I read it."

We stare at each other, she says nothing, and I'm getting nervous. Maybe, I finally managed to scare her away. Perhaps she was pretending not to hear me if only to give me an out.

"That's the one," Sam says, pointing to the book, and I have to think twice before I can get my bearing.

"The one you liked?" I wonder. Really, what else could've I ask?

"Yes, don't you see?" she whispers as one of her hands reaches my face. I shudder, which is stupid because it's a darn caress, and I'm a grumpy General, but she smiles softly and continues, "even if he is describing a girl, for me it's you. You look like that for the outsider. If they are not looking, then you seem simple to them, and everyone thinks they know everything that is there to know about 'General O'Neill.' They all wonder how you managed to get this far by being so simple as you make them think you are. But I see you," I have to gulp because that's not what the words were saying.

"No, it is you, Sam. Whoever meets you believes they have you all figured out. To them, if you aren't the 'military woman,' you are the 'science geek.' But, I think," I take a breath. "I believe I saw you. I hope I see you."

"...She only looked away for a moment, and the mask slipped, and you fell. All your tomorrows start here..." she finishes the reading, with a happy smile, "There's too much still hidden beneath masks, Jack, for both of us. However, I'm already under A-51's chain," she grins, her eyes glinting with something akin to ... Wait! If she is under A-51's.

"Will you marry me?" I blurt, surprising even myself.

She raises an eyebrow, and I shrug with a crooked smile, not the most romantic proposal, but hey! At least it wasn't in a park after eating hot dogs.

"Yes," she answers firmly, and then she squints. "Shouldn't we date first?"

"We have been group dating for eight years, Sam, and we only have a week," I plead.

"Before you are my CO's CO. I know," she states seriously. As I frown to her words, she chuckles. "What you are failing to notice, Jack. Is that I've already agreed to your proposal."

Her eyes glinted in the dark, and we laugh, I mean? Who gets together over a darn book? And when silence falls this time is not uncomfortable, we are free, and I finally get to kiss her again. This time it wasn't because of a virus, not in a time loop she wouldn't even know happened. This time was perfect.

Third time has a charm, they say, and this time I didn't kiss only Sam, Major Carter or Doctor Carter, but Samantha Carter, the whole package, my fiancée.

I think I heard the darn book hit the floor, but I didn't care, I had the last line memorized. I'm pretty sure it will be part of my vows.

'...she only looked away for a moment, and her mask slipped, and I fell, and all our tomorrows start here.'

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I was going through the web when I came with the text you will read below, and this came up. I haven't read the darn book only the chapter where the quote came from. I hope you liked it!  
> M.  
> PS: Sorry for any mistakes I might have left! Below the whole Quote in which this was based: 
> 
> “She seems so cool, so focused, so quiet, yet her eyes remain fixed upon the horizon. You think you know all there is to know about her immediately upon meeting her, but everything you think you know is wrong. Passion flows through her like a river of blood. 
> 
> She only looked away for a moment, and the mask slipped, and you fell. All your tomorrows start here.”
> 
> ― Neil Gaiman, Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders


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